Locomotion Uses Vicon Mocap System for Spy Kids 2

Vicon has noted the
recent inventive use of Vicon technology by LocoMotion
Studios on the feature film "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams",
which will be released in theaters on August 7th. LocoMotion used its
Vicon 8 system in a groundbreaking process that captured the positions
of cameras and objects on set while the movie was being filmed.

Certain scenes within "Spy Kids 2," an adventure sequel with "slightly larger spies" released by Miramax/Dimension Films
and directed by Robert Rodriguez, presented the challenge of having real
actors interface convincingly with virtual elements. One such sequence
involved the film's young heroes and their rivals riding on fantastic
creatures in a large arena. The production originally planned to shoot
motion capture of the actors and then remove all of the markers digitally
during post. An ultimately quicker and easier solution was found by using
LocoMotion's Vicon system on the live set to instead capture Director
Rodriguez's camera and other objects as they moved within the scene.

LocoMotion set up 15 Vicon cameras in a 60-to 70-foot oval-shaped capture
volume elevated above the actual film set. Film cameras shooting the
action on the green screen stage were marked up, as were cables, cranes
and
the robot props that were being used to represent the CG creatures. Motion
capture was conducted on these objects simultaneous with the rolling of
film.

"This approach required that we be able to work directly from the
live film
set, a rather hostile environment for motion capture," said Michael
McGar,
President of LocoMotion. "The flexibility and dependability of our
Vicon
system allowed us to set things up without being in the production's way
and to operate flawlessly, even with walls of 50K lights, green screen,
camera vibration and all of the other situational elements involved. I
think the filmmakers were pretty impressed that we were able to get such
a
high-tech motion capture job done from right within the thick of things."

The visual effects department used motion data collected by LocoMotion
Studios to seamlessly merge live footage with digital backgrounds and
characters, with the tracked camera positions lending a more accurate
relationship between the actors and their virtual surroundings. "What
normally would have taken us weeks took only a few days," said Brian
McNulty, head of post-production at Sleeping Shark Productions. "Traditionally,
animators must plot the positions by hand, frame by frame, to complete
the job. With LocoMotion Studios' involvement, the visual effects were
not only finished sooner, but with more realistic action. Being able to
blend live footage seamlessly with the virtual backgrounds and characters
is a great step forward for film visual effects. This new process of tracking
camera position will cut time in post and lend even more precision to
the way live actors interface with the virtual world."

"Through its products and the company's support of them Vicon gave
us the confidence to sit on an active film set, do something we'd never
done before and know that we would succeed," McGar added. "We
can always rely on Vicon to provide the best equipment that is easy to
use and that functions well. We can also depend on Vicon's support team
to be there for us, whether it's walking us through a particular issue
or giving us pointers on best approaches to starting a project."

In its long-standing work within the entertainment industry, LocoMotion
has
completed projects for clients ranging from Microsoft to Acclaim Studios
and Atomic Pictures. The company's well-known motion capture expertise
featuring horse and rider moves has been featured in productions for Fox
Television ("Night of the Headless Horseman") and the BBC (interactive
horse race for ITV in Europe).